Italian coalition ally yanks ministers, sparks govt crisis

ROME (AP) — Matteo Renzi, a former Italian premier, yanked his ministers on Wednesday from Premier Giuseppe Conte's government, triggering a political crisis in the middle of a pandemic that could lead to a revamped Cabinet, a different coalition leader or even an early election that opposition right-wing parties hope will bring them to power.

Ex-Premier Matteo Renzi, who leads the small centrist Italy Alive party, has been chafing for weeks at what he sees as Conte's heavy hand in deciding how some 200 billion euros in European Union funding will be used to help pull Italy out of years of economic stagnation, only worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Renzi in announcing that the farm and family ministers and Cabinet undersecretary were bolting the 16-month-old center-left government, said he had enough of Conte's frequent governing through decrees instead of turning to Parliament.

“Italy Alive didn't provoke the political crisis,” Renzi told reporters, putting the blame for the government's unraveling on Conte's methods.

“We won't allow anyone to have full powers," said Renzi, who had governed Italy from 2014-2016.

It was unclear if Conte would try to negotiate further with Renzi or soon tender his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella, who for weeks has been insisting the government concentrate on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has worsened years of Italy's economic stagnation.

If Conte or someone who could replace can't muster enough support in Parliament, Mattarella could dissolve Parliament, paving the way for early elections that, if opinion surveys hold, could bring an alliance of right-wing and far-right nationalist forces to power.

Earlier, after conferring about his center-left government's stability with Mattarella, Conte expressed...